Ireland’s Gay PM to Take on Pope Francis Over Gay Marriage

Irish PM Leo Varadkar says that he will question Pope Francis over his stance on marriage equality during a scheduled meeting on August 25. The meeting coincides with a weeklong summit for the World Meeting of Families in which people convene to celebrate “family and marriage ‘as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and the Church.'”

Ireland’s openly gay PM said “I’m not sure exactly what the detail of my interaction with him is going to be.”

He told Irish Central “our view as a society and as a government that families come in all sorts of different forms and that includes families led by same-sex parents.”

“[The reception at] Dublin Castle may be very short but, first of all, I will want to welcome him to Ireland. And, if the opportunity arises, I will certainly want to express to him the real concerns Irish people have in relation to the legacy of the past, in relation to issues such as the church’s involvement in Magdalene laundries, mother-and-baby homes, and sexual and physical abuse.”